1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to navigation and in particular to a method and apparatus of presenting navigation information. Still more specifically the present disclosure relates to a method, apparatus, and computer program product for managing presentation of a navigational chart on a touchscreen display device.
2. Background
Aircraft pilots frequently refer to navigational charts while planning and executing a flight plan. Navigational charts provide the pilots with aeronautical information used for flight planning or while flying an aircraft. This information includes, for example, the locations of runways, the radio frequencies in use at a given airport, weather patterns over a particular region, and potential hazards in a particular region. Previously, pilots would carry a flight bag onto each flight. This flight bag contained paper charts and could weigh in excess of 40 pounds. Currently, this flight bag has been replaced with a data processing system called an electronic flight bag. The electronic flight bag condenses the flight bag containing paper charts into a portable electronic device.
One activity performed by pilots prior to takeoff is a study of the navigational charts that will be used during an upcoming flight. Prior to the creation of the electronic flight bag, pilots would frequently use highlighters on the paper navigational charts in order to call attention to specific areas of interest. Once the area was highlighted on the paper navigational chart, the pilot would see the highlighted area of the chart during flight and recall the intended meaning of the highlight.
Similarly, pilots frequently conduct a meeting prior to takeoff with the co-pilot to discuss the flight plan. Prior to the creation of the electronic flight bag, the pilot and co-pilot used highlighters on the paper navigational charts to call attention to various areas on one or more charts during the discussion. Highlighters allowed the pilot and co-pilot to mark an area that had already been covered during the discussion, or mark an area that required additional attention during the flight.
While the electronic flight bag is a convenient replacement for the paper navigational charts of the past, using the electronic flight bag may make studying and discussing navigational charts more complex for pilots and/or co-pilots. Pilots and co-pilots still use paper navigational charts and highlighters to make notes for a flight in addition to using the electronic flight bag. In some cases, pilots and co-pilots may make notations on a separate sheet of paper or conduct the pre-flight meeting completely orally, leaving the record of what navigational chart areas were discussed to memory.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.